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The main aim of the chapter is to examine the prevalence of Slavic and, more specifically, Slovenian mythological elements in Slovenian heavy metal music. No such analysis had previously been attempted, so a database had to be established anew. Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives (MA) was chosen as the most comprehensive available source on metal music, supplemented by information gleaned from other sources. All 290 bands listed as Slovenian on MA were inspected for evidence of Slavic and Slovenian mythological content. Each band's name, genre, lyrical themes as listed in their profile, song titles, and lyrics were taken into account. The compiled corpus was then analysed in terms of information availability, prevailing languages used by the bands, and, subsequently, their relation to Slovenian mythological heritage. The search for Slavic and Slovenian mythological content began with keyword-based computer-assisted analysis followed by manual annotation. Elements directly concerning the Slavic mythos, Slovenian legends, and folk tales, were featured in a ‘Slavic content database’, their suitability ascertained through inclusion in prominent publications on the topic, e.g. Mikhailov (2002), Ovsec (1991), and Šmitek (2004, 2006). The acquired results were then divided into seven categories in order of prevalence, namely, deities, mythical creatures, history, nature, literary references, mythical places and phenomena, and idiosyncratic folklore. Our intention was to also present the contents of each category in a short overview aimed at acquainting the reader with individual phenomena, yet only the most prominent two categories could be presented here due to spatial constraints. The remaining categories will be dealt with in more detail in a follow-up paper. The findings featured will also enable the commencement of the second part of the research, a qualitative analysis of the afore-mentioned ‘Slavic content database’.

This paper aims to analyze the modern approaches to the development of tourist value proposition and to discuss relevant cases of small cities in Russia.

The paper uses a case study approach based on the experience in Vladimir Region with respect to government and its support for tourism development.

Based on the analysis of the main approaches to the development of tourist value propositions of small cities, the experience of the Vladimir Region is used to discuss composite tourist products that combines different values for tourists.

Several recommendations are offered for developing and improving the tourist value propositions of small cities, including clear positioning of a destination from competitors, communicating values that are of high interest to target segments, event marketing, extension of tourist experiences and networking of small cities that can contribute to the composite tourist value proposition.

The main output of this paper is to provide understanding of approaches to developing tourist value propositions for small cities that can be used in transitional economies to contribute to the sustainable development of the territory, based on the experience of the Vladimir Region, Russia.